Snowpack Levels Declining Across Western U.S.

A new study published in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science (a Nature publication) shows that snowpack levels across the western U.S. have declined over the last 100 years. The team of researchers, led by Dr. Philip Mote at Oregon State University, analyzed data from snow monitoring sites across the West and found declines between 15 to 30 percent with the largest impacts occurring in the spring due to warming temperatures. The study concludes that declining snowpack levels will ultimately have consequences for a variety of factors including snowpack storage in the mountains as well as lower river and reservoir levels during late summer and early fall.